Gillig 30ft Low Floor - the journey starts

[Bert06840]

Next I put in the grey tank



And cabinet mutilation was unfortunately unavoidable. The net loss of cabinet space is acceptable though.

[Bert06840]

Before: A pile of IKEA cabinet door rejects



After: a rather clean looking kitchen

[Bert06840]

The countertop is made from common pine board. Shelving planks really.





Some sanding helps

[Bert06840]

Fitting the Volvo seats

[joeblack5]

Wow, you are not messing around.. looks great..does that fridge has a separate condenser, or is it in the walls?
With the freezer so close to the roof it might be good to put some extra insulation there if possible.
Johan

[Bert06840]

The condenser is contained, and it seems to radiate from the back only. I don’t seem to discern clear convection channels. I need to investigate deeper with an IR thermometer when things are less busy.

There’s about 6” above the freezer and I am trying to figure out if it is more energy efficient to put some ducted fan system on top to pull the heat out in some controlled manner. And add/remove insulation accordingly. I’m not sure yet exactly how.

[Bert06840]

The bus had some close encounters in the past, and I ran into a NOS indicator on eBay. So I quickly put that one in.

[Bert06840]

Also quickly wired in new marker/indicator lights. The originals had gotten really dim.

[musigenesis]

Everything's looking great. I'm mildly annoyed at how fast your kitchen went in.

[ol trunt]

I put in a temp controlled heat exhaust fan behind my frig. It cut the run time by about 33%. The fan is a large 12v computer fan. I also put a smaller fan aimed at the frig compressor that runs any time the frig is on. Almost free and other than the vent on the side of the bus well worth the effort.
Jack

.

[sportyrick]

I was told wire insulation is made from soybeans and that is why mice like it. Farmers are really happy when they go to use their million dollar combines after sitting all winter and the mice have made colorful nests out of their $25,000 wiring harnesses.

[Bert06840]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Everything's looking great. I'm mildly annoyed at how fast your kitchen went in.

You got restitution, I took out the countertop tonight to sand it once more and soak it with oil like a butcher block.





It turned out pretty good!

However, the plumbing is a pita all the way.

[musigenesis]

I'm not looking forward to the plumbing at all. I'm hoping to fall in with somebody who already knows how to do all that and is willing to trade for something I know how to do already. Do you happen to need a custom iPhone app?

[caioalmeida]

My Friend, I'm so glad I found you here, I just bought a Gillig Phanton 42 (40') and drove all the way from Seattle to Florida with no issues, I got it reclassified to rv in just 20 minutes no issues there and no inspection, I also got a commercial insurance from Progressive till I can complete the built, I have no great knowledge of busses, but this is the one I wanted I'm willing to hire your consulting services if you still have any time left in your schedule.

[caioalmeida]

I bought a Gillig Phanton 42 transit bus in Seattle and drove all the way to Florida in 6 days, will start conversion ASAP got it reclassified to RV and insured in Seattle in 20 minutes no inspection. now the engine lite is on and the bus doesn't start, I'm having a hard time finding someone in Palm Coast Florida that can scan and troubleshoot but most of all I want to learn as much as possible.

[Bert06840]

That’s no good, but completely to be expected.

Get a “heavy duty” code scanner, it must support J1939 and J1708.

The NE102 works good enough.

Read the service manual PDFs for comparable models

[Bert06840]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I'm not looking forward to the plumbing at all. I'm hoping to fall in with somebody who already knows how to do all that and is willing to trade for something I know how to do already. Do you happen to need a custom iPhone app?

Hahaha… I might.

But if you can learn objective C, PVC is a piece of cake [emoji16]

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Bert06840

Hahaha… I might.

But if you can learn objective C, PVC is a piece of cake [emoji16]

I'm honestly not doubting my ability to learn plumbing, I'm just getting kind of mentally worn out having to learn entirely new stuff for every single thing I do on the bus. There's a certain pleasure and satisfaction that comes from doing something you already know how to do and doing it quickly and well.

[Bert06840]

Here’s a quick picture of the beam pattern of the new turn signal. It’s a radical improvement and well worth the money spent.

[Bert06840]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I'm just getting kind of mentally worn out having to learn entirely new stuff for every single thing I do on the bus. There's a certain pleasure and satisfaction that comes from doing something you already know how to do and doing it quickly and well.

Yeah, I feel sort of the same thing, but my drivers are different.

I like to learn a lot of new things, but I like to learn them well, and be thorough. In my case, there was/is enormous time pressure, so I can’t learn/plan/research as much as I viscerally would like to.

We bought the bus and the end of April, and it was parked a 2.5h one-way commute away from our home in NYC until the end of June. Working on it was very hard. Then we had the house move, but we got on the road on July 19th as planned. We always knew it was going to be “minimum viable”, and I think I even exceeded that a bit. It worked, but it was crazy. I did absolutely everything solo, and I have a full time and-then-some job. So I’m worn out too.

Can you convert a bus in 2 months? Sure. But for the love of god, don’t.